What on Earth is Going on? is a podcast for the curious, where small talk is banned and tangents are prized. Strap yourself in for genuine dialogues with people who think deeply and are ready to tackle the big questions, such as playwright Nicolas Billon, economist Miles Corak and chemist Cathleen Crudden.

In his acclaimed thriller, Butcher, Canadian playwright
Nicolas Billon asks, how do we punish the unpunishable? How can
there be true justice when everyone has their own take on what
justice is and how it should be served? How can live theatre as an
art form successfully pose such questions in our accelerating
digital age? And above all, how does empathy fit into all of
this?

Ben sits down with Nic to discuss his play, the power of
theatre, and the crucial role of empathy in our lives and
society.

About the Guest

Nicolas Billon writes for theatre, film, and television. His
plays have been performed in multiple languages around the world.
His first, The Elephant Song, was made into a
feature film starring Xavier Dolan, Bruce
Greenwood, and Catherine Keener, for which Nic won a Canadian
Screen Award and a Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award. His
latest, Butcher, was produced across Canada and is in
development as a feature film for Rhombus
Media. Nic has won over a dozen awards for his work, including
the Governor General’s Award for Drama.

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About the Podcast

Your weekly podcast for a world in flux.
Globalization and climate change. The rise of social media and the decline and fall of Blockbuster Video. AI and VR. Donald Trump and Flat Earthers. The world is changing so fast that we can't get a grip on how we got here, let alone where we're headed.
Join Ben Charland as he peels back the headlines to ask, what are the events, characters, forces and ideas that shape the human story today? Have things always been this nuts, or are they getting crazier by the day? Who were those barbarians that took down the Blockbuster Empire? Just what on Earth is going on?